North Korea appears to have carried out its third and strongest nuclear test since 2006, and several countries — including the U.S., the UK, France, India, China and Russia — swiftly condemned the action.
It's worth noting, however, that these countries have carried out more than 2000 nuclear tests combined since 1945.
Isao Hashimoto created the multimedia artwork "1945-1998" to provide a bird's eye view of all of the nuclear tests after World War II. The time lapse excludes all three of North Korea's (October 2006, May 2009, and February 2013), but gives an indication of the precedent set by other world leaders as The Hermit Kingdom developed its nuclear weapons program.
Things start heating up around 1952:
For the record Pakistan — which sold nuclear technology to North Korea in the 1990s — expressed regret over the most recent test.
And Iran — which is facing stringent sanctions over its nuclear ambitions — called for the destruction of all atomic weapons after the test. (It asserts that its nuclear program is only for civilian use.)
Produced by Robert Libetti
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